The Niles West football team played their first home game on Friday, Aug. 25, against the Thornton Wildcats. The Wolves took a huge win, resulting in the final score being 42-13.
In the first half of the game, the Wolves took the lead. The athletes were focused every second of the game, ready to “tackle” their opponent’s next move.
“The team played with a lot of energy. We built up a team that has a lot of connections and that cares about one another. We had a lot of guys running to the ball, protecting the ball and winning the turnover battle. Overall, the execution was really good,” Head Coach Nick Toresso said.
As a player, sometimes the perspective may differ from the coach. Junior Christian Guzman reflects on the win and how it would motivate him.
“I think we did well and beat the team we played how we should have. We left no doubt of us clearly winning that game and leaving a statement on the field to flow into our next game,” Guzman said.
Senior Peter Rassam agrees with Guzman and also applauds his team on the accomplishment. “It was a great team win. We did what we were supposed to do, onto the next,” Rassam said.
Guzman has worked hard every day during the season and even the off-season just to improve their game.
“Our preparation really wasn’t just the week of the game, but it really started when our last season ended. Since then, we’ve been on a mission to be better along with coach Toresso and the rest of the coach staff that has led us here. We aren’t done yet,” Guzman said.
Since the season has just started, the team has set some goals. “We need to improve on our discipline, like some of the penalties and sportsman-like conduct. Our team right now needs to know how to win, and by doing that we need to have the right mindset going into each game,” Toresso said.
At the first game of the season, all of the students and family were there to cheer on the players. Students were hyped up in the student section, wearing all red to show their support. Come and cheer on the Wolves at their upcoming home game in Sep. 8!
